Finding a Creative Solution

Hospital improves communications as part of security plan

By Samuel Shanes

Sep 01, 2013

Hospitals are centers of healing and wellness
that serve as a destination for those who have
suffered injury or violence, causing people to
possibly take safety and security for granted.
However, recent surveys show a steady increase
in assaults and violent acts over the past several years.

According to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries
(CFO), there was a 23 percent increase in reported attacks and
assaults from 2010 to 2011. The census also reports that patient
and visiting family violence has increased by nearly 34 percent
over the same timeframe. Additionally, each year, there are
nearly 3,000 assaults on hospital staff alone, with many more
going unreported.

The sad truth is that many hospitals and healthcare facilities
are seeing a fast-growing need for increased security.

Security Budget

Despite this established demand, hospital security departments
around the country have seen little to no change in their budgets
and have been forced to find creative solutions to enhance
security.

Many hospitals have identified security communications
as a key, under-developed component of their overall security
plan. During emergencies, patients, staff and visitors sometimes
find it difficult to get in touch with emergency services
in a timely manner. A faster response time can lead to a safer
environment, decreasing the chances of a situation getting out
of control.

Acting within the limitations of budgetary constraints,
many hospitals have installed blue-light, emergency phones
throughout their campuses. While security staff is limited
to patrolling only one or two areas at a time, emergency
phones act as a force multiplier, allowing dispatchers to
quickly send patrols and staff to targeted areas in need of
immediate assistance.

Availability of Emergency Assistance

In order to prevent crime and violence in medical centers,
it is critical to combat the misconception that
emergency assistance is instantly available anywhere
and everywhere.

The widespread use of cell phones and the availability
of Internet access has convinced some that
they can always get an emergency response when
needed. However, the reality is that there are everyday
situations that separate a caller from immediate
contact with others, such as the loss of cell
phone reception, a dead battery and not knowing a
specific phone number or the exact location. Besides,
an unexpected situation can occur at any moment, and
the ability to contact others, especially during an emergency,
can be harder than expected.

It is situations like this that concern Adam Adcock of Carolinas
HealthCare System.

Adcock is a systems engineer and project manager for the
healthcare system’s physical security department who wanted
to address these communication concerns with an easy and reliable
solution. With the help of Stan Black and Alan Weeks of
SAF Technologies, Adam and his team installed 16 of Talk-
A-Phone’s blue-light, emergency phones across several parking
decks at the Carolinas HealthCare System-NorthEast Hospital,
a 457-bed, acute-care hospital in Concord, NC.

With more than 4,200 employees and thousands of patients
at risk, an improvement to the facility’s communication capabilities
was needed.

“We wanted to install a solution which we knew would operate
without error, each and every time,” Adcock said. “We
also appreciated the easy maintenance and high availability of
replacement parts when required.”

Operating an Emergency Phone

The blue-light, emergency phones are coupled with LED,
blue-light assembly. When activated, the blue light grabs the
attention of nearby individuals, notifying them of an urgent
situation, while simultaneously acting as a beacon for officers and security staff responding to the
call. Placement of emergency phones
and their active blue lights deter crime
because the lights create a visible border
and “safe zones” that patrons and
criminals both know will quickly muster
a response from security.

The emergency phones provide a direct
line of communication to the hospital’s
security department. Because an
emergency situation may be hectic, it
isn’t always a given that a person will
have a phone or the phone number
to security. For some, the use of their
hands may be needed to help others, or
in more dire situations, for self-defense.

One benefit of the blue light emergency
phone is that once activated, it
automatically dials the hospital’s security
dispatch center.

“Our telecom team programs ring
down lines specific for each station, including
a location-specific caller ID,”
Adcock said. “Once a button is pushed,
our security communications center receives
the call, gathers information and
dispatches an appropriate officer response.
We encourage our patients and
staff to use the stations for anything,
from a need for assistance to true emergency
situations.”

To activate a phone, a user simply
presses the bright red “Emergency”
button on the front of the unit, and a
dispatcher or security person will answer
the phone and start assisting the
person in need.

Integrating with Emergency Phones

At many other hospitals and similar
facilities, upgrading emergency phones
means entirely replacing existing devices
and updating infrastructure, often at
great expense. Fortunately for Adcock
and his colleagues, the blue-light emergency
phones are capable of integrating
with a variety of other security devices,
allowing the units to be upgraded and
downgraded over a long period of time.

Recently, each blue-light emergency
phone has been integrated with cameras
to provide surveillance before, during
and after activation. During activation,
the security dispatch controller can assess
a situation via the camera and relay
extremely valuable and detailed information
to responders and patrons.

For example, a dispatcher may
identify, through a unit’s camera, that
a person is hostile, so the dispatcher
could then tell responders to use caution
when arriving on scene. Another
example could be a dispatcher instructing
responders to bring extra
equipment to a scene, so there is no lag
time between arrivals and getting the
needed equipment.

Ultimately, the cameras allow for
greater flexibility and an improved
response because dispatchers and responders
can react to activations more
efficiently, and patrons can get an improved
response to their emergency.

“Stations are easy-to-use and program,”
Adcock said. “Operation is
flawless, and we’re happy with its proven
reliability.”

The emergency phones have been
at the hospital for nearly 10 years. In
order to maintain and operate these
phones, the hospital’s security staff
tests each station at the beginning of
every month. While most of the emergency
phone stations are deployed in
parking decks and lots, others are deployed
inside hospital stairwells to provide
an alternative area of refuge.
As the hospital’s facilities continue
to grow, so does the presence of emergency
phones.

This article originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of Security Today.